How to Get Vaccinated ASAP (When It’s Your Turn)

Your chance to get a Covid-19 vaccine may pop up quicker than you think, so make a plan now

People wait inside Manhattan’s Javits Center on January 13, 2021, which was recently transformed into a Covid-19 vaccination site. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Whether you’re in a priority group and actively hunting for Covid-19 vaccine appointments, or you’re way down the list and bracing yourself for a potential monthslong wait, it’s important to actively keep up with information about your vaccine eligibility and know how to score an appointment when it’s your time to get one. “People will have to be assertive about doing this, especially in these early days,” says Tara Kirk-Sell, PhD, MA, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore.

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Right now, there’s no clear indication that you’ll, say, be notified through your health care provider portal that you can come in to get the vaccine (though some providers are notifying patients), says Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health in Piscataway, New Jersey. Adding to the confusion, who’s next in line and when varies from state to state.